The Very Best of Yvonne Elliman

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Yvonne Elliman

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Yvonne Elliman is one of those singers that you recognize on the radio, but can't place. This Hawaiian born singer first achieved status with "Jesus Christ Superstar" as Mary singing, "I Don't Know How To Love Him" and "Everythings Alright". She later ventured into other areas of pop with a cover of "I Can't Explain" and a nice rendition of "Moment By Moment" from a forgettable film (John Travolta and Lily Tomlin as lovers? Gay on Gay?) Anyway, Ms. Elliman got her biggest hits from the Gibb Brothers with her covers of "If I Can't Have You" (#1) and "Love Me". "Hello Stranger" was also a big hit with a trendy beat and since everyone was 'doing disco' at the time, Ms. Elliman did a great job on "Love Pains", one of the more popular 'listenable' dance songs of the era. This is a great collection and a sad one, knowing that this may be her swan song, but, oh, what a great one it is.

Enough carping over the disco cuts here. Can't you people dance? Just think: without the draw of "If I Can't Have You," a non-Bee-Gee-performed #1 hit from "Saturday Night Fever," this compilation might never have been made. But that doesn't diminish the impressive range of material Yvonne Elliman sings so well here. She's powerful and intelligent on "I Don't Know How To Love Him" and yearning and seductive on "Love Me." Love the mellow wah-wah guitar bubbling away on the latter, by the way--great soft-disco hit written by Barry and Robin Gibb.

My favorite surprise on this disc is Pete Townshend himself powerchording away on Yvonne's version of his "I Can't Explain." Second favorite is that she belts it out rather than go mellow like Judy Collins covering Dylan. I also liked "Savannah," a rock-oriented album track from 1979.

Most people won't be able to follow this from Jesus Christ Superstar, the Who, and Blind Faith to the Eagles and Bee Gees pop-disco without disliking something. I like this era and enjoyed pretty much the whole record. I've read that Ms. Elliman still performs as a session musician; I'm pretty sure her name has graced the credits of lots of yours and my records from the years since she stopped recording as a soloist. This is a fine "Chronicle" of her time in the pop spotlight, not bad to remain a chart playa from roughly '71 to '79.